Saving The Wizarding World
by haertbrkwarfare
Summary: I don't exactly know what to write. This story's about a girl who's destiny is to save the wizarding world from the muggle government. Every wizards powers are being controlled by the government and shes the only one who can save them. New characters.OC/O
1. Brown Powder

Chapter One:

"Wake up, Anneliese. It's time for school" my mom pulled the covers off my bed.

"I hate school" I rolled over, onto my stomach and put my pillow over my head.

"It doesn't matter. Get up, now, or else!"

I pulled the covers off, got out of bed and stomped into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. You could still see the tear tracks on my cheeks from last night. I pulled the rubber band off my ponytail and watched as my brown, wavy hair fell into its place around my face. My brown eyes still had a wet look to them. It almost seemed like no time had passed from last night till now. I sighed.

"This is as good as it gets, huh?" I asked my reflection.

"Hurry up, Anneliese, or I'm going to be late for work"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" I shouted back to my mom. I washed my face, brushed my teeth and then walked out of the bathroom.

"God. Nothing to wear" I pushed hanger after hanger, not finding anything that seemed good enough for the last day of school. Finally, I found a pink tank top and a gray shirt with a large V-neck. I grabbed my favorite skinny jeans and went back into the bathroom, to take a shower. Combed my hair, put on my jewelry and grabbed my bookbag. There was no time for breakfast.

Life, for me, wasn't very exciting. Nothing exciting ever happened. Everyday passed by fast, the same things happening the same way as usual. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that my best friend was transferring to my school next year. I couldn't wait for that. And, the only thing that kept me going, day by day, was the idea of talking to him when I got home. He was my inspiration, the one good thing in this mess of horrible nightmares. I know you probably think that I'm exaggerating, but I'm really not.

My school, Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, is a school of excellence. Or so they say. Yeah, most of the students have 99.9 averages and everyone there is filthy rich. But, who ever said that meant excellence? Does successful really mean having loads of money and being a brainiac? When did the world become so competitive and superficial? What you're probably thinking now is 'what about the students who aren't 99.9 averagers?' All those people are so much worse. Either they're wanna-be gangsters who don't care a shit about school or they're people who just have bad luck. Don't get me wrong, I like my school, but only as a school, nothing else. There are the few people who have normal averages and have normal lives, but I don't have the time to waste or the patience to get to know them. You can call me lazy, or just, plain intelligent. Intelligent not to get involved in all the drama of highschool. That might also mean that I'm not living my life, but who really is? Being popular, or rich, or a genius; is that living life? Sometimes, there's just... being normal.

My day consists of waking up wishing that school would just finally end. Then, waiting for a bus that never seems to be empty. Going to a school where the teachers are idiots and the students are no better. Having tests that I don't even remember hearing about, but that's probably because I'm not paying attention in class. Eating pop-tarts for lunch, walking through the halls alone, pretending to do work when I'm really writing to become a famous writer and wishing that it was 5:30 and I could talk to Curry.

Don't ask me why I call him Curry. I guess it's just this nickname thing between us. I call him Curry, because that's part of his screen name, and he calls me Ms.96. I don't exactly know why he calls me that, but I let him anyway.

Things in my life couldn't have gotten any worse, or so I thought...

"You're not going to be online anymore?" I asked, hoping that this was a joke.

"No. My mom thinks it's a waste of time. She thinks that I'll just sit at the computer all summer"

"What's wrong with that?" I felt tears forming at the corners of my eyes. Why was I such a crybaby?

"I don't know, but she has a problem with it"

"That's not fair"

"Life's not fair"

"Tell me about it" I looked into my bedroom mirror, trying to think of something to say to change the subject.

"I'll miss you" I finally managed to choke out. I don't think he noticed that I was crying. I was good at crying silently now.

"I'll miss you too, but what can we do? Parents have all the control over us, whether we like it or not!"

"I know, I know. I'm not sure how I'm going to survive this summer"

"Yeah, I won't be able to listen to you talk about your problems anymore"

I laughed, despite the tears leaking out of my eyes.

"Listen, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure" I wiped the tears off my cheek. I heard the click that meant that he had hung up. The tears started spilling over again. There was no one else I'd be able to talk to like I did with Curry.

Summer turned out to be worse than I imagined. I could hardly find anything to do anymore. My stories were suffering because all I could think about was Curry. I had tried to call him a few more times, but he never picked up. I was starting to worry about him, then I felt a rush of anger at him and then I finally accepted the fact that our friendship was over until next year. I just wish there was some way I could communicate with him. Someway to know that life was treating him okay. Since it was certainly not treating me okay.

Things were continuing slowly. I began to find things to do. There was this great website where you could watch movies for free. So, I'd been catching up on all the movies I had missed out on. There was so much to watch, since I didn't get a chance to go to the theatre that often. Curry and I hadn't communicated since that day when he told me about his computer problem. I just really couldn't understand why his mom had a problem with the Internet!

It was only a week into summer that things became weird. Every night, I found myself on the balcony, watching the night sky. There was something out there, calling to me, trying to send me some sort of message. I just couldn't understand what it was. Things became weirder as time passed by. There was always wind, whether it was morning or night. Most of the native birds were gone; there were no pigeons or sparrows in sight. Instead, owls were seen flying through the night sky. The night before my life changed forever, someone started fire-works. It began with a big spark of red in the sky, coming from the right. Then, another spark, blue this time, but coming from the left. And then, it just continued. Right, left, overhead, behind, in front; all of the fire-works a different color. People were obviously celebrating. Of what, I didn't know. I checked my calendar, but there didn't seem to be any holiday.

"How much more 'twilight-zone' can this become?" I asked myself, while standing on the balcony, watching the fire-works.

I woke up at 10, the next morning. I had been hoping to wake up a little earlier, but I guess that late night TV watching had some effect on me. I groggily walked into the living room, and looked around. The TV was off and no one was there. I went back to the bedrooms; there was no one there either. I checked the bathroom and the balcony, but there was nobody there at all.

"Thank god" I thought as I walked back into the living room. My grandmother was probably at the Center. I was walking past the dining table, on my way to the kitchen, to get some breakfast. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the mail sitting on the dining table, untouched. Sitting at the very top was a red envelope with the word 'Netflix' in big white letters. I walked over to the mail and took the Netflix envelope. I opened it and looked at what movie my sister had ordered. Bucketlist; _bo-ring_.

I was about to put the envelope back down and get some breakfast, when I saw a small white envelope in the mail pile. It looked like it was so full that it was about to burst, and it had my name, hand-written in clear, neat script. I took the envelope and looked it over. There was no stamp and no return address. How weird. I turned the letter back to the front. I hesitated in opening it. But, before I could make a decision there was a sharp birdcall from the balcony. I looked out and saw a black owl, staring at me fiercely. I looked at the letter, and then the owl, which had taken flight already. That's when it hit me. _Owls_. This letter was delivered by an owl.

"But... that only happens in... Harry Potter" I looked back at the letter. I opened it slowly and saw that it wasn't filled with paper. It was filled with a rich, dark brown powder. Sitting next to it was a small piece of printing paper. I pulled it out.

_This should help you in the future. You will not fully understand the significance of this, but I trust that you will guard this with all your life. It is very important and you will find great need of it in the coming days. I wish all the luck to you, Anneliese. I hope that you will succeed in what hasn't been achieved as yet._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Dumbledore_

Dumbledore?

"Oh my god" I thought as I looked at the powder once again. This was magic; real magic.


	2. Guns and Wands

Chapter Two:

A pictures worth a thousand words, as they say. But, what are a thousand words worth? And, through acquaintance, is a picture worth what a thousand words are worth? Some things are just so unclear sometimes. Like, how I can't seem to concentrate on the book I was reading, Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen, or the fact that the brown powder fascinates me so much. I've never thought about something so much, not even Curry.

The brown sat on my dresser, not moving, not making an indication that it existed. Just the fact that it was still there and that the letter hadn't disappeared yet made it so hard to concentrate on anything else. It took me twenty minutes more to finally close my book and walk over to my dresser. I picked up the envelope and went back to my bed. I sat on the edge and opened the envelope, looking at the brown powder again. What was this?

"This is a joke" I finally decided, walking out of the room, throwing the powder into the garbage on my way.

There was no one home again. My grandmother seemed to be the most popular family member in our family. If she had a cell phone, the phone bill would be so expensive. I turned on the computer and signed on to AIM. There was no one on, and I had known this before I even thought about going online. There was no reason to be on AIM anymore; not since Curry left. Things never just stay the way they're supposed to be, do they?

I signed off and was on my way to the kitchen when there was a loud blast from somewhere. I looked outside, through the open door of my balcony but there was nothing there that could've made a noise like that. There was another loud blast and I turned around, finally finding the source of the noise. The front door was blasted off it's hinges, as dust rose into the air. Before I could say or do anything, a large amount of men wearing all black came running into my house. They all had a small badge on the left sleeve of their shirt, indicating that they were from the government.

The government?

"Where is it?" Asked the nearest man. He looked at me with his cruel, uncaring eyes.

"W-where is what?" I asked, confused.

"Don't act dumb! We know it was sent to you! Hand it over right now, before we have to bring violence into this." He pulled out a gun, pointing at me.

"Merlin!" One of the other men exclaimed. "You can't just blast her brains out. She's only a kid." The man reasoned.

"No I'm not" I said, annoyed. "I'm not a kid!"

"See? Don't show pity for her, she's not a kid, after all." He snorted. I stared at him. "Listen, just give us the wand and we'll leave you alone?"

"Wand? What wand?" Now I really didn't know what they were talking about.

"Listen kid, give it to us, or else. It's not just you we'll kill. We'll kill all of your family if you don't hand it over now."

I opened my mouth to respond, when I felt a big rush of wind. Everyone in the apartment transferred their attention to the balcony door as person after person flew into the room, on brooms.

"Wait, brooms? What the hell is going on?" I thought to myself, as a war broke out right before my eyes.

"Grab the wand and go!" Shouted a masked person as they flew past me. "The most important thing is your safety and the safety of that wand!"

"B-but I really don't have a wand!" I exclaimed, frightened as blurry forms raced past me.

"Yes you do. It was sent to you by owl post." Shouted a girl as she shot a Stunning Spell into the crowd of people.

"That's a wand?" I shouted to no one in particular. Practically all the wizards shouted back.

"Yes!"

"Now go"

"Please? So we can leave!"

"Holy shit!" This was a little more excitement than I could handle.

_Ah. It's short, isn't it? Sorry bites lip_


	3. Judging

Chapter Three:

The door unlocked in front of me. But, I wasn't looking at the interior of the house; I was watching the wand that had tapped the doorknob, causing the door to open in the first place. Was this a dream? How and when did everything in Harry Potter suddenly become real?

"Go in" someone pushed me from behind. I stumbled into the house, looking around. I was almost expecting to see objects doing the housework on their own, like J.K. Rowling had explained about the Weasley's house. There was no movement, no indication that anyone even lived here. Around twenty people filed in behind me; all of them were talking and chatting. It felt like we had just come back from a party, not a fight consisting of guns and wands.

"Come on" someone gestured to me. It was the girl who had reminded me of Dumbledore previously.

"Where are you taking her?" Asked a boy who looked a few years older than me. He didn't even acknowledge that I was there. It was as if I was invisible.

"I'm taking her upstairs. She needs rest." The girl gave him a fierce glare, but the boy's stare didn't waver.

"She needs to know what's going on." Someone said from behind me.

"No she doesn't!" Both the girl and the boy exclaimed. "What she needs is to explain to us about the wand!" The boy snarled.

"No, she needs rest. Do you realize what the shock of this could do to her? She can have a heart attack, whatever that is! Apparently it's a condition where the heart can no longer -"

"Will you stop it with the Muggle diseases!" The boy exclaimed.

"A-actually, it's not a disease and I'm not yet old enough to get a heart attack." I looked attentively from the boy, to the girl, to the man standing behind me. They were all looking at me like they had just noticed I was there, even though this whole discussion was based on me.

"She needs rest." The girl pulled out her wand and pointed it at the boy. The boy laughed; he actually laughed.

"Andrea, you know you're not as good as dueling as I am." He said, pulling out his wand, too.

"Guys, just stop it. Let her take her upstairs. We need to discuss what we're going to do about this whole fiasco anyway." The man stepped between Andrea and the boy. We all stood in the same positions for a few silent seconds. Then the guy gave in, cursing under his breath and stuffing his wand back into his jeans' pocket.

"Whatever" he said, walking into the next room.

"This will be your room, for now. I'm not sure if we're staying here. It's too out in the open, you know, easy for the Muggle police to find us." She said, opening the closet to show me. I sat on the bed, looking down at the floor. She turned and studied me for a few minutes.

"Of course you don't know!" She suddenly said. Her exclamation made me jump. "You're a Muggle. For god's sake, you don't even know what Muggle means. Muggle is the name for -"

"Non-magical folk" I said automatically, thinking back to Hagrid. I looked up to Andrea's shocked eyes.

"How'd you know that?" She asked.

"I just do" I said simply. "Are we going to have dinner?" I stood up and pretended to examine the dresser, trying very hard not to look at Andrea. I wasn't even hungry; I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up the next morning in my own bed.

"I'm not sure. We still have a meeting to go through. After that, we'll probably have dinner"

"Alright. Let's get this over with" I started towards the door.

"Woah, woah. Wait. I'm sorry but you're not exactly part of the meeting" she gave me an apologetic look.

"What, why? You guys are going to talk about that wand thing and what's going on, right?" I asked.

"Yes, we are -"

"I want to know what's going on, too. I'm the one who's least informed. You can't just hold me hostage here and not tell me what's going on!" I said. She looked at me for a while.

"Aaron won't agree to it. I'm really sorry." She walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"Who?" I asked out loud, to myself.

Taking a shower always seemed to calm me down. It was one of the best places to daydream, to think. My daydreams were usually of me and the guy I liked meeting in some place, and suddenly falling in love. Well, that's the basic summary of it.

I threw my wet towel on the bed and went over to the mirror. My face was still a little pale from finding out about all of this magic business. I was studying the pores on my nose when I heard voices right behind me. I turned around quickly, splattering most of the room with water. There was nobody behind me but I could still hear voices very close by. I walked towards the noise, curiously. I opened the door and looked out at the hallway, but no one was there either. I closed the door and stood still, listening for the voices again. I finally heard them and realized it was coming from my bed. I walked around the bed until I realized something else; the voices were coming from _under_ my bed!

I got down to my knees and put my ear against the bed. Sure enough, I heard the voices more clearly. I stood up and began pushing the bed until I uncovered a small grate. I looked through the holes, down into the room underneath and saw twenty pair of heads.

"...didn't even know it was wand! Like it's really hard to guess what a stick that produces sparks is! And, if what Andrea said is right, she should've known right away!"

"I know, I know, but I still feel like there's something we're misunderstanding about her."

"Like what?" Said that same boy who had been fighting with Andrea.

"I don't know, but there's a reason why the wand was sent to her, isn't there? We have to find this out!"

"I don't understand how Albus thought that she could save us all." Said the boy.

"What do you mean? He heard it from a crystal-reader who's known for her random, but accurate, prophecies! He swore that she was the one!"

"But, she's so young! How old is she, thirteen? Fourteen?" The boy asked.

"Fifteen" I thought in my head, annoyed.

"Fifteen, I think," said Andrea. "And you can't judge her abilities because of her age!"

"Why not?" He asked stubbornly.

"Because, there have been loads of young people who influenced our history. Influenced who we are today!"

"Yeah, and look where it landed us. Hiding from _Muggles_ because they want to stamp out the very existence of us." The boy spit on the floor, angrily.

"What about the Chosen One? He did good for us. He defeated You-Know-Who! And, he was only eleven when he first faced him. He was so young, but did so much." Andrea pointed out.

"What about you? Eh, Aaron? You were only thirteen when you ran away from your parents house." Said someone. I couldn't exactly see who it was; the grate was pretty dusty.

"And you began battling against our enemies at the age of fifteen!"

"Plus, you're the youngest known member of the Order. Even though we have nothing to fight for anymore." A person in the left corner finished in a disappointed voice.

"The basic idea is that you can't judge people by their age, or their first appearance. I think we should give this girl a chance. She just might end up surprising us. Who agrees with me?" Andrea asked the group of people. At first, only a few raised their hands. Then, most of the room raised their hands. Aaron cursed again.

"Why do you always end up winning?" Aaron asked Andrea in a low voice, while everyone stood up getting ready for dinner.

"Because I'm better at fighting an argument. Now, go upstairs and get her."

"What? Why me!"

"Because I won the argument and you won a chance to bond with her. Go." Andrea pushed Aaron towards the stairs. He began climbing them, grumbling to himself.

I had only a few moments before Aaron would reach this room. I stood up too quickly, almost losing my balance. I ran to the other side of the bed and began pushing. I finally pushed it back into its correct position, before Aaron opened the door, looking suspicious.

"What were you doing?" He asked me, finally finding me panting on the floor.

"Nothing" I said. I stood up and looked at him, expecting him to say something more.

"Well, its dinner time" he said slowly. Searching the room for clues as to what I was doing.

"Finally" I smiled at him as I walked out the doorway and down the stairs. I must've surprised him because he was still standing at the doorway when I was already halfway down the steps.


	4. Wand Power is Powder?

Chapter Four:

It's crazy how different people seem, and yet, how alike they are. Two people could be 50 years apart, but they still find a way to connect. Someplace where they're both comfortable with each other. Two people, one being rich and the other poor, can still find a way to fall in love. They're able to share their feelings, not caring about anything. Just happy to be with each other.

Why couldn't this be the same for me?

I sat at the dining table, watching the twenty people eating. None of us were speaking and the silence fell over us like a hot, itchy blanket. Almost everyone was fidgeting, trying not to look at anyone else. This moment was very awkward.

"I thought you were hungry." Aaron whispered next to me. I looked at him and then at the food, surprised. It was as if I hadn't even realized we were eating in the first place.

"I guess I'm too full from everything else to eat anything."

He looked at me with a confused expression. "You'll need the energy." His voice showed no emotion.

"Why?"

He looked at me like I was crazy. "What do you mean why?"

"I know I need the energy and all, but why is it so important that I eat?" I didn't bother to whisper this time. I don't know why, but I wanted everyone to hear this conversation. Everyone was watching us now.

"I don't know. Forgive me for caring."

'Why should you care? I'm only the 15 year old girl who can't do anything, right?" Oops. I wasn't supposed to say that!

"How'd you know I said that?" He asked. I had to think of something fast.

"Aha! So you do think I can't do anything!" I began eating; ignoring the looks that everyone was giving me.

"How did you know I said that?" He asked, again. He sounded angry.

"I could tell by the way you ignored me, and when you finally looked at me, from the looks you gave me." I hoped that this would be enough to trick him into thinking I hadn't heard their conversation at all.

"Jerk." I heard Andrea murmur, and so did Aaron.

"What're you calling me a jerk for, huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking -"

"What did I do? All I was saying -"

"You're hearing things. That's not surprs -"

"Seriously. Why can't you just ever be normal?"

"Normal? What makes you think -"

Everyone just sat there, ignoring what was happening at the table. It was as if they were used to this. Maybe they were, but I wasn't.

"Will you please shut up!" I put my hands to my head, trying to get rid of the newly formed headache.

"What!"

"Excuse me?"

"No, excuse me!" I stood up and ran up the stairs, leaving two speechless people and a whole plate of food.

When I reached the room that I was staying in, I sat on the bed. This was too much for me. First, the FBI come to my house and try to blast my brains out, then a bunch of wizards fly in and start a war. Then they take me away from my home and bring me to this disgusting place where they all seem to hate me because... why? I don't even know why they hate me!

"Shit" I fell back onto the bed. I lay there for a while, thinking over what happened in the past few hours. How can life change s o drastically in so little time? I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice that I was drifting off into a deep, disturbing sleep.

"Wake up." Someone said in a harsh voice. They shook my shoulder. I opened my eyes, unwillingly and looked up into the face of Aaron. His face looked angry, but there was something in his eyes that he was trying very hard to hide. "We're having another meeting and this time you don't have to listen through the floor grate. Bring the wand."

My eyes widened. He knew about the floor grating?

"Yes, I know about the floor grate" he said, reading my mind. "Whose house do you think this was?"

"This was your house?" I asked as I got up and fixed my hair. It was a big mess.

"Yeah" he looked around it, sadly. I didn't know this guy for very long, but this seemed like the first, and probably the only time, I saw him with some emotion other than anger. "This was my parents house actually."

"You ran away, right?"

His eyes refocused from the past and he looked at me. "Yeah... my parents fought a lot. My father and mother were both from wizarding families, but not pureblood ones. So it wasn't a surprised when neither of them got any powers. They still knew about magic, though. After all, their parents and ancestors were wizards and witches." Now his eyes were really glassy and unfocused. For some reason, I wished that I had the chance to see what he was thinking; how things really happened. My own visions were just not enough.

"The big surprise was when I was born with powers. I was a big deal, as a baby."

"What do you mean 'as a baby'?" I asked curiously. My voice woke him up from his flashback.

"Shit, we're late. Nice job distracting me." He said in his angry voice again. He walked out of my room and down the stairs, disappearing from sight. I sighed; this guy wasn't very good at hiding his fear. I grabbed the letter and the envelope of powder and ran down the stairs. I walked into the dining room. Everyone looked up when I walked in.

"Got the 'wand' " I said, dropping the envelope and letter on the table.

"That's not a wand" Andrea said.

"Well, this is what I got from the owl"

Everyone glanced at each other and then gave the envelope curious looks. "Huh, weird" Aaron said quietly.


	5. The Lost Deathly Hallows

Chapter Five:

"So you're saying that we have to get all the Hallows to bring this thing back to life?" Aaron asked Andrea. We were all sitting in the dining room, still holding a meeting. I was half-asleep in my chair. It was taking all my strength just to stay awake.

"Yeah, he said that when Harry Potter died, the wand lost the magic that held it together. We need the power from the other two objects to bring the third back to life."

"Did he tell you where to find them?"

"No... that was when the guard's came. I had to Apparate out before they could reach me. Sorry." She said sadly.

"Shit" Aaron went back to pacing back and forth; what he was doing while waiting for Andrea to come back.

"All we need to do is search a little," someone said.

"Too bad we have the whole world to search! We have no idea where the cloak or the ring could be."

"I do," I said, waking up suddenly.

"You do?" Andrea asked, confused. "But you didn't even know about magic until recently. We knew about it our whole lives and we have no idea where the Deathly Hallows. We don't even know if they really exist!"

"They do exist, and just because I didn't know magic exists doesn't mean that I don't know anything about magic."

"Okay. Where's the ring, huh?" Aaron glared at me.

"Hogwarts grounds" I said, trying very hard not to fall asleep.

"Hog -" Aaron looked at Andrea. "Hogwarts is gone. There's no longer a castle," he said, turning back to me.

"Are the grounds that it was put upon gone, too?" I asked.

"No, but if it was in the castle -"

"It wasn't and isn't in the castle. It's in the forest. Forbidden Forest"

"How do you know about all of this?" Aaron gave me a look that had no anger, only curiosity.

"There's this -- it's -- I don't know how to explain it to you guys"

"Then show us."

I thought about this for a few moments. "I'll need a wand for that." I finally said. Aaron walked up to me, took out his wand and slammed it onto the table.

"There you go," he said quietly, then he took a few steps back. I took the wand and prayed that this would work. I closed my eyes tightly.

"Accio Harry Potter books"

There was silence. I opened one of my eyes and saw that I wasn't the only one expecting something to happen. Everyone was looking around the room. I looked out of the windows nearby and tried to see if there were seven books flying to us.

"Well, that was disappointing" Andrea said. I sighed.

Suddenly, there was a sound of glass breaking from upstairs. We all looked up at the ceiling and Aaron was almost on the second step when seven books came soaring down. The books lined themselves up on the table in front of me, starting from the first to the seventh. I was surprised that this worked. Did this mean I had magical abilities, too?

"Here" I handed Aaron his wand as he walked back towards us. I grabbed the seventh book and flipped to the page. "Read this. This'll tell you where the ring is"

Aaron took the book from my hands and read the page. "The Forbidden Forest. What are these?" He asked me.

"The Harry Potter series. Written by J.K. Rowling."

"This is how you know about our magic? From these books?"

"Yup" I smiled at my own brilliance.

"I don't remember having Muggles write about us. How can we know that these are accurate?" Andrea asked me.

"I don't know. Read them and see if they have the right information. Can I go to sleep now?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure. You should've told me you were tired." Andrea walked me to the staircase.

"We're leaving tomorrow, for our next hiding place. This house is not safe. The government is close to having important information on Aaron. We can't take this risk."

"Okay" I smiled at her.

"Thanks for helping us, too. I'm not sure if I have the right experience to say this, but it almost seemed like you have magical powers also. If you do, we're going to have to get a wand made for you."

"No problem" My face brightened at the thought of finally having my wish come true.

"Goodnight" she said.

"Goodnight"

My life was finally becoming a little more exciting. I was so happy.


	6. No Sleep

Chapter Six:

An hour later, I woke up. I don't know why I woke up, but I did. Everything was quiet, so it couldn't have been a noise that woke me up. Maybe it was the silence of it all was what made me wake up. Hold on. I'm starting to hear a loud noise. It sounds like a monster. Maybe they brought a dragon to guard the house? I sat up in my bed and looked around the room. There was no movement.

"There's the noise again" I mumbled to myself. The third time the noise came around, I realized where the sound was coming from. My stomach. I didn't eat any dinner. I got out of bed and walked down the stairs, trying my hardest to be quiet. I'm usually very clumsy, you could almost call me the second Tonks without the metamorphosis powers, but I didn't bump into anything on my way down to the kitchen.

When I reached the kitchen counter, I saw a piece of paper there. I would've ignored it if it didn't have my name on it. I picked it up. It said, "I knew you'd come back. Look in the microwave"

I looked in the microwave. Inside, there was a plate of food. Andrea really was a nice person. I pressed the start button and watched the food begin to heat up. Then, I took an apple and walked into the sitting room. Might as well snack until the food's ready.

I was only a few steps in when I realized that someone was sitting in one of the armchairs. The person was reading a book and was making absolutely no noise as they turned each page. I walked a few more steps in and saw that it was Aaron and that he was reading the second Harry Potter book.

I couldn't refrain from asking. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, it's you." He said, looking up from his book. "I'm reading. I thought that was obvious..."

"But, you're reading Harry Potter..." I was completely confused. I had never expected him to be the kind of person who read those books, and actually enjoy it. I could tell he was enjoying the books from the small smile on his face. His smile made his handsome features even more handsome.

"These books are pretty interesting."

"Yeah..." I sat down in the armchair across from his. "They've been my favorite books for a long time"

"Really?" He asked, looking up from the book. He looked surprised. "Why?"

"The idea of magic actually existing... II always wished it was real. And, now it is" I said, quietly.

"Funny. It doesn't seem like you're liking it here in the 'wizarding world' "

"It's not that I don't like the wizarding world. I just... don't like..."

"Don't like what?" He could tell this was important, so he put the book down. "Well?"

"I'm afraid to say it" I admitted.

"Just spit it out already" he said, impatiently.

"The way you act." I answered bluntly. One thing that I couldn't stand at all was impatient people.

"What?"

"I don't like the way you act. You make it seem like everything in the world is horrible and that you've always got to do things alone. It's as if you don't even have any friends. I mean, I can see that you talk to people. But... do you really talk to people?"

He looked taken aback. I almost smacked myself in the face for saying that out loud to him.

"Can I ask you something?" He finally asked.

"Sure"

"Don't think I'm a stalker or anything, but I've been watching you. We all have. I want to ask you, do you really talk to people?"

Then he walked up the stairs, leaving me to think about how right he really was. The microwave timer went off into he distance as I traveled through the past year, watching myself purposely distant myself. He was right; what exactly were we both trying to prove?

I got to bed half an hour later, only to be woken awake another hour later. It was now four o'clock in the morning, and all I got was 3 or 4 hours of real sleep.

"Five more minutes. I hate school" I whined. Someone shook my shoulder again. I knew that i was definitely not my mother when I heard their worried voice.

"Anneliese! Wake up! They've found us! Please, wake up! You have to get to a safe place!"

I opened my eyes. "Andrea?"

"Yes, yes, please wake up and start getting ready. We can hold them off for ten minutes or so. Be quick. I'll help you pack, then I'll go downstairs to help the fighting. Climb out the window over there and you'll meet Avior. He'll take you to our next location. Hurry up!"

I was already out of bed and changing from my PJs to the clothes nearest to me. Andrea left the room after making all my belongings fly into the air and down into my suitcase. There was a box sitting on top of the pile. It was narrow and dusty. I opened it even though I could tell that there was a war going on downstairs. Inside was a thin, light-brown wand. A paper, signed by the wandmaker, told me that my new wand was Oak covering with Phoenix feather core.

"Accio Harry Potter books" I said. The books zoomed into my room, falling neatly into the suitcase. I grabbed the letter and envelope lying on my dresser and dropped them in, too. Then I shut my suitcase.

"Reducio" I shouted. I watched my suitcase become the size of my hand. I tucked it into my pocket and ran to the window. I was halfway out the window, when someone barged into my room. I could tell instantly that this was not someone on my side, since they were about to send a curse my way.

"Incendio" I watched as the guy ran around, screaming, trying to get rid of the fire on his pants. Didn't this guy ever hear of stop, drop and roll? I guess not, since he isn't a Muggle. But, I would think that he'd at least know how to produce water magically. Before I could enjoy this scene anymore, someone pulled me down by my legs. I fell into their arms, not knowing if it was friend or foe. So, I began protesting, trying to get out of this person's clutches.

"Chill, it's me, Aaron" the person whispered. I stopped immediately. Aaron carried me to a blue, glowing object.

"What about the others?" I asked.

"They've already left. You were the last one."

"Oh" boy, did I feel stupid. Aaron put me down when we got to the portkey. He picked it up and I put my hand on it. Next thing I knew I was flying through undecipherable images. We finally landed in a small meadow. He dropped the piece of garbage and walked over to me. He picked me up. Even though I knew it was him, I tried to protest.

"What are you doing?"

"You need the energy" he said. "You only had a few hours of sleep. That's not enough for any human being"

"I'm not tired, though" Of course, my body disagreed with me, making me yawn and blink my eyes a few times.

"Stop being stubborn and just sleep" he said, as we walked through the grass. I closed my eyes. The warmth of his body felt comforting.

"Okay" I mumbled.

"Nice hexing, by the way."

I smiled. "Thanks"

... and I was back in the dream world. This time, I didn't wake up until 10 in the morning.


	7. The Cave

"So, what's our next move?" Andrea asked.

We were sitting in a small cave. After the Muggle government took over our first hideout, we had no where to go. So, we had to settle on a cave that Avior found. It was in the middle of nowhere; just a couple of rocks surrounded by rough waves of seawater. The cave gave off a weird feeling. As if there was something watching us. Watching our every move. I shuddered and Aaron looked at me.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked. I didn't understand this guy. One minute he was totally nice, and the next he was a total jerk! The million dollar question; what's going on with this guy?

"Nothing" I looked away from him. I always told myself that I didn't care what other people thought of me. It was me new rule ever since 9th grade had started; ever since my Cardozo years had started. There was something about the way he talked to me, though. Something that made me care. He treated me like a ten-year-old. What did I do to deserve this treatment?

"Okay, I suggest we go after the ring first. It'll be harder to find and harder to succeed in. Then we go after the Cloak, since that'll be easier. All we have to do is trace down the Potter's family."

"Yeah, that'll be totally easier." I scoffed. Aaron gave me an annoyed look.

"Do you have any better ideas?" He asked. I thought about it for a little bit. Did I have a better idea? "Anyway, as I was saying... " He continued.

"Hold on" I said. Something struck me out of nowhere. "Wouldn't the government double security or something if they find out we broke into the Hogwarts grounds, and wouldn't that make it harder to get our hands on the cloak?" I asked, looking around the cave.

"That's true... "Andrea said, thoughtfully.

"I mean, at least the Cloak is still under the control of wizards, right?" I said. "I think that we should go after the cloak, just to get it over with. We keep the cloak in a safe place. Then, we go after the ring. If the plan works out, we'll have both the ring and the cloak and there's nothing the government can do about it."

Andrea smiled at me and I smiled back. "I think that could work. What do you think Aaron?" Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Whatever" he got up from his seat and walked deeper into the cave.

"Ignore him" Andrea said, watching me watch him walk away. "He gets moody a lot; especially when someone else wins the argument"

"That's... sad" I said. Andrea laughed and I ended up laughing with her.

After a small dinner of some wild trout, we all sat outside the cave, watching the night arrive. Aaron had stopped being moody by then, or maybe he was just hungry. The point is that he was outside with us. I stood up after a while told a questioning Andrea that I was just going to explore the cave and then went inside.

Instantly, the darkness filled up my line of vision. It was bizarre how dark it was compared to how much light there was outside, where the sun was now setting. I wasn't exactly sure why I was exploring the cave. I wasn't the type to go the extra mile. I was the lazy girl; probably the one to pay someone else to explore the cave for me. I would do absolutely great as a C.E.O of some major company. But, to get to that level, I'd have to do actual work.

"Lumos" I whispered, even though I knew that there was nobody around. I poured the light over the cave walls, looking for something. I wasn't sure what; but something.

The walk into the cave was a little frightening. I had the feeling that I was being watched the whole time. But, there was nobody in here. I kept telling myself that. They searched the cave; there's nobody here. There was something in the air that made me believe otherwise. I stopped in front of a blank part of the wall, there was nothing even there to make me stop. It was just like every other part of the cave. For some reason, though, I had stopped. I reached my hand out, not exactly touching the wall yet. I took a step closer, then a few more. Finally, I was near enough to touch the wall with just the tip of my fingers. It felt cold against my skin. Too cold. It didn't feel right. It was an unsettling cold; something dark and evil used to be, or still was, in this cave.

"Did you seriously just come here to touch the walls?" My heart skipped a beat. I quickly darted away from the wall and turned to see Aaron behind me. He had just stepped out of the shadows, his arms crossed across his chest. He was looking at me, amusement in his eyes. I wasn't too happy to see him.

"Yeah" I said, challenging him to make fun of me. To do something, anything, that would make me want to hex him.

"Why?" He asked, laughing a little. It was a taunting laugh.

"Because I feel like it. Do you have a problem?" I was through with him. Yeah, I barely knew him, but he was still a jerk and it was a waste of time to even talk to him.

"No. Not at all. I just, you know, thought you'd have a better reason to be feeling a wall..." he shrugged. I tried to stare him down, but his stare never wavered. Well, neither would mine. I don't know how long we stood there, just staring at each other. Our positions changed until we were pretty much sitting on the cave floor, staring.

"What are you guys doing?" Andrea asked, walking in on our staring contest. I was the first one to break our crazy trance.

"Ha" I heard Aaron say quietly. I ignored this; Andrea just looked at us like we were both nuts.

"Nothing" I answered her, finally. I stood up and started walking towards the front of the cave.

"What's with you guys?" I heard Andrea ask Aaron.

"Nothing. I just followed her in here and found her feeling a wall."

"What? Are you - just shut up, Aaron"

"What! It's true. Ask her yourself."

Thankfully, it was dark enough that no one saw my blush. I could tell from the heat, generating out of my face, that the blush had been a big one. Why did I even care!


	8. Our Little Secret

Chapter Eight:

I don't know why I couldn't sleep. Everyone else was asleep, except for Aaron, of course. He was off being some kind of tough guy; going into the outside world on his own. Everyone offered to go with him, except me, but he refused everyone's request. Even Andrea's! And I had begun to think that they were together. There was something weird about that Aaron; he was always on his own. He tried to say that I was just like him, but even I would've wanted company going out in weather like that.

Thank god I didn't have to go out in that rain, though. It was pouring cats and dogs! I couldn't help but be worried about Aaron, even though I hated him.

I was currently reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was my favorite book; next to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I don't know exactly why the seventh book was my favorite. Maybe because it was the book with the most action. I already knew the reason why the third was my absolute favorite. The whole book was based on Sirius Black. That guy was just completely amazing! He could turn into a dog, he was the heartthrob of Hogwarts during his school years and the description that J.K. Rowling gave was really seductive. He was hot, even though he didn't exist. Oh wait; I guess since Harry Potter existed, so did he.

Wow. That's a crazy thought.

I'm a fast reader, so it isn't a surprise that I was already near the end of the book. I had been reading it all night, and it was probably the middle of the morning right now. It was that thing in the air I had felt before, that was keeping me awake now.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Aaron emerging into the cave. I glanced at him then went back to reading.

"Why are you still awake?"

"Because I know how much you want me to get some rest" I gave him a smirk. He smirked back.

"Ha ha, that's so funny" he rolled his eyes.

"Funnier than you" I said in a singsong, half-whisper.

"You wish" he said, showering me with water on purpose.

"Hey!" I said, annoyed. "Watch the book, will you? It's messed up already." I looked at the Strawberry stain I made on the book during the first few days I had it.

"_Saw-ry_" he said, sarcastically. He started talking about the weather but something else had caught my attention.

_As she said it, a wrath that was like physical pain blazed through Harry; setting his scar on fire, and for a second he looked down upon a basin whose potion had turned clear and saw that no golden locket lay safe beneath the surface --_

"Oh... my god" I said, completely ignoring Aaron. I grabbed my wand and stood up. I still had the book with me, balancing it with one hand. Then I shut it loudly, which made Aaron stop talking and look at me. He watched me put the book back in my suitcase and then walk slowly into the cave, once more.

"What're you doing? Where are you going?" He asked, following me. I walked deeper and deeper into the cave, looking for the part of the wall that I had touched earlier. Aaron followed me the whole time, trying to get an answer about where 'we' were going. It's not like I had asked him to come with me.

Finally, I reached my destination. I looked at the wall. It really did look exactly like every other part of the cave. Aaron finally caught up to me.

"Do you have a knife?" I asked before he could ask me any questions.

"Yeah" he pulled out a small pocketknife. I took it and looked at it, then looked at the wall and back at him.

"You really should've read the Harry Potter books" I said, turning back to the wall. Before he could say anything I opened the knife and moved the blade across my finger. One tiny drop of blood was still on the knife. I heard Aaron exclaim from beside me, but I ignored it, as usual. I put the knife against the wall. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion. The drop fell slowly down. It hit the floor and stayed there for a few moments. Then, a bright outline appeared in the cave wall. It grew brighter and brighter with every second that passed. Aaron was quiet now. Finally, the glowing ceased and a black hole formed.

"W-what is this?" Aaron asked. He sounded scared.

"How come you didn't read the HP series yet!" I exclaimed.

"I'm not much of a reader" he admitted. We were still standing outside, watching the hole.

"If you read the sixth or seventh book, you would've known that this is where Voldemort hid one of his Horcruxes" I wouldn't admit it out loud, or let it show, but I was also frightened of this new discovery.

"Horcruxes?"

"Objects that are used to -"

"I know what they are. "He gave me an annoyed look. "I just didn't know that Voldemort used Horcruxes"

"You don't know a lot about Voldemort"

"And you do, which is weird because you didn't even know magic existed!"

I ignored his comment and took a step closer to the hole. We hadn't even entered it, even though it had been ten minutes since the entrance had appeared. Aaron grabbed my arm and pulled me back a few steps.

"I don't think it's safe" he whispered. I almost laughed at the fear coming out of his voice.

"Of course it's not safe. It was Voldemort's, wasn't it? I just want to see if it looks like what I imagined. It's not like we're going to take the boat to the island, or anything"

"The _what_ to the _where_?" He asked me but I continued towards the hole. I climbed through carefully.

"Lumos" I heard Aaron say behind me. Then he followed me in.

It was not at all what I imagined. The black lake that J.K. Rowling had described was gone. The boat was probably gone, too, but I couldn't be sure. It looked like the place had been used for some sort of hiding area, but someone seemed to have ransacked the place.

There were broken pieces of wood, bags of large gold, silver and bronze coins and ripped pieces of fabric. The island was still there but there was no stone basin. I tried to make the light from my wand reach the opposite corners of the room, but it didn't work. As the light shifted, something glinted from the floor of the dried up lake. I wanted to know what it was.

"Make me float" I said, turning to Aaron.

"What?" He asked.

"Make me float" I repeated.

"I'm not doing that" he seemed revolted from the very idea, as if it was some kind of disgusting monster. "I need light too, you know!"

"Oh, nevermind" I began circling the lake.

"Can we just leave? There's nothing special here"

"Special to me"

He gave me an exasperated look. I stared at him until he agreed to exploring the area.

I don't know what made me do it, but I held my hand out and walked along the edge of the ditch. After circling only a little, my hand hit something chained and metal. I couldn't believe it! Maybe it wasn't gone after all. But, how was I supposed to make it move like Dumbledore had?

"Here, let me" I hadn't realized that Aaron had put his hand out, too. Probably curious to find out what it was that I was holding. He tapped the chain with his wand, whispering a spell that I had never heard before. The chain appeared out of thin air and began to move.

"What spell did you just use?" I asked.

"It's something I made up. It's called the Automica spell"

"Automica" I whispered, smiling to myself.

While I was thinking about this new spell, I hadn't realized that the boat was now hovering in mid air. When I finally registered this in my mind, I climbed into the boat. Aaron followed suit.

"Automica" I said, tapping the chain again. We both coudln't help but smile at each other. The boat hit the floor with a soft thud. We got out of the boat and walked towards the object that had glinted before. It was a large, golden locket. I picked it up and examined it. It seemed oddly familiar.

"Hey, look at this" I looked at where Aaron was pointing. There was a large grave stone stick in the ground and a smaller one next to it. Aaron crouched down and began reading the bigger one's writing.

"Here lies Kreacher, the proud house elf of the Black family. May his soul rest in peace where his noble master died from Voldemort's doing"

"It actually says Voldemort?" I was surprised.

"No, but - what does it matter! I like using his name, okay?"

"Sorry" I said, rolling my eyes. "Read the next one"

Aaron cleared his throat. "Here lies the last of the honorable Regulas Black; one of the few who contradicted _You-Know-Who_. Happy?"

"Very" I said. I crouched down, too, and saw that the smaller grave had been dug up. It was probably the locket that had lain in there. I looked down at the locket, turning it over and over in my hands.

"Can we go now?" Aaron asked. He stood up and so did I. I pocketed the golden locket.

"Let's go"

When we reached our sleeping bags, Aaron went back to drying himself and getting ready for bed. I just lay down and pretended to go to sleep. Somehow, Aaron wasn't fooled.

"I suggest we don't tell anyone about tonight" he whispered, in my ear, making me jump. I didn't notice him get so close to me.

"Sorry for scaring you" he snickered.

"You didn't scare me!" I said, annoyed. "And I agree; let's keep the whole Horcrux thing a secret..."

I listened as Aaron climbed into his bed. It was half an hour later when I finally decided it was safe to move around again. I pulled the locket out and started examining it under the light of my wand.

"Still awake and trying to sleep. You're not helping" Aaron murmured. I growled and turned the wand light off.

How I hated that guy!


	9. Dueling

Chapter Nine:

"It says that Potter had only three kids. The girl is still alive, I think."

Andrea and I entered the cave. We had gone out to look for food. We had found a supermarket a few miles away and we bought food from there. When we got back, we found a meeting taking place.

"Woah, you guys got the Potter family tree?" I grabbed the book from Aaron (purposely; to annoy him and because I want to see it.)

"Yes, and I was looking at that" he grabbed it back before I could even look at it.

"You're so naive" I said. I tried to get it back, but he was ready for it. We ended up having a tug-of-war fight. Everyone else was too surprised to do anything.

"Accio book" someone said. Looks like Andrea had woken up from her shock.

"What's wrong with you two?" Andrea asked. I didn't answer her and neither did Aaron.

"What's our next move?" I asked, not meeting anyone's eye.

"We're going to visit the Potters...if we can track them. We'll probably be able to. Zack has connections" Avior said, pointing at one of out members that I didn't know too well. I nodded my head and asked;

"What do I have to do?"

"Nothing. You're staying here." Aaron began packing up the things he took out for the meeting.

"I am not staying here" I said.

"You can't come with us, you'd just get in the way!" He answered angrily.

"What makes you think that?"

He scoffed. "Because you have absolutely no magical training!"

I don't know what made me say it, but I did. Maybe it was the anger.

"Let's duel"

"What?" He laughed. "I'm not gonna duel you!"

"Why, scared?"

"I am not scared" he growled. He pulled out his wand and so did I. Nobody tried to stop us. I had no idea why, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that I showed this guy I was capable of beating the pulp out of him.

"Wait" I said before he could say his first spell. "Aren't we going to do this the proper way?"

"And what way is that?" He asked.

"A big, strong wizard doesn't know how duels go?" I said, sarcastically.

"STUPEFY" he shouted. I ducked and the spell hit the wall behind me.

"You need to learn how to control your anger..."

"All right, opponents please bow to each other" Avior said. Both Aaron and I walked forward. I bowed and so did he.

"You can't be serious!" Andrea shouted. 'Guys, you can't do this. We can't fight our allies!"

"Says you" Aaron murmured. Andrea gave him a death look. "She wants to make a fool of herself, then she can. There's nothing you can do to stop this, Andrea"

We took our positions at the ends of the cave. I knew that I was going way over my limit and I knew that I would most likely lose, but that didn't mean anything.

"Wait" Aaron said this time. "What happens if I win?"

"I stay back here... or wherever.."

"And if I lose?"

I smiled, "you let me go with you guys and you let me battle too"

We took our positions again. My wand hand was sweaty. The wand was slippery in my hands. One hit could knock the wand out of my hand easily.

"Get ready"

I breathed in and out. I had never done something like this before. I wasn't the type to fight.

"Hold on" I said, standing straight again as Aaron did, too. "I think we should make the first person to drop the wand their wand the loser. We're not fighting to death."

"Aw, why? Scared?"

"No, I'm not a killer..." I answered simply. I got back into my position.

"Yeah, like you'd really be able to kill me."

"You might be surprised by what I'm capable of"

"Get ready" Avior said again. He waited a few seconds. "GO!" Then he ducked out of the way. Instantly, Aaron sent another stunning spell my way. I dodged it and tried to think of a good spell to use. Something he wouldn't expect someone like me to know.

"Petrificus Totalus" I shouted. The spell went straight towards him, but it didn't get to reach him.

"Protego!" Andrea shouted. "You guys!" She shouted at us, but Aaron had already taken her blocking charm off.

"Expelliarmus" he shouted. I ducked and the spell flew right over my head. It hit someone standing nearby and their wand went flying at Aaron. This was my chance.

"Conjunctivitis" I shouted. Aaron was too quick for me, though.

"Protego" his spell collided with mine and sent sparks into the air. Nothing, other than that, happened.

"Stupefy" the spell hit me hard. Next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. I fell to the floor with a crash. There were stars in front of my eyes, but my wand was still in my hand.

"Expelliarmus" Aaron said quietly. Oh wait, never mind. "It's over; you lose" he whispered. I could hear the smirk in his voice. What made me think that I would be able to win?


	10. Imperio!

Chapter Ten:

I sat on the rock, bandaging my wounds from the duel. Andrea had offered to do it for me but I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at that moment, let alone receive help.

I didn't know what made me think I could win. I totally humiliated myself and it was all because I thought a few Harry Potter movies could help me with a duel.

"You okay?" I looked up to see Aaron. I didn't answer him. I was never going to talk to him again!

"Oh come on! You can't ignore me because I won a duel. It's not like I cheated or anything!"

I kept on ignoring him.

"You did really well, though. Better than Andrea in fact"

"It's funny then that she gets to go when I can't" Darn it, what happened to not talking? Stupid, stupid me!

"Finally, you talked to me!" Aaron sat down next to me.

"Never making that mistake again" I said. I got up and walked to the mouth of the cave.

I sat down at the edge and watched the waves hit the rocks bellow me. I missed my old life. I missed my house, I missed my computer, and I even missed playing Maplestory. I missed Curry the most, though. I hadn't thought about him in so long. I wondered if he heard about my disappearance. I wondered how my parents were taking it. I wished there was a phone nearby.

I tried to blink back the tears that were forming, but it didn't work. The tears fell rapidly. I gave up trying to hold them back and let them fall freely. I heard someone approach from behind me but I ignored them. I really didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment.

"Go away" I said. The person stayed, though. I felt their eyes on me. I turned, ready to see Aaron or Andrea but it was neither. Standing in the moonlight was Zack. There was something wrong with him. He was just standing there, watching me, and fingering his wand.

"W-what do you want?" Zack was never a big talker. He didn't say anything; he pulled his wand out suddenly.

I grabbed my wand before he could do anything else.

"Imp -"

"Stupefy!" He went flying backwards. His wand fell where he had been standing moments before.

"Ow!" somebody exclaimed. Zack must've fallen on someone sleeping. I ran into the cave. Zack was getting up. I pointed my wand at him when he attempted to get his wand back.

"What's going on?" Aaron asked, coming from the back of the cave.

"He's imperiused" I managed to say. Aaron walked over to Zack. He held his face and looked into his eyes. Before he could answer me, Zack pulled Aaron's hands off himself and punched Aaron straight in the face. Aaron staggered back, holding his bleeding nose.

"Yup, definitely imperiused" he managed to say. Andrea came running over to him. She was helping him fix his nose, but I wasn't paying attention. I was watching Zack.

"Don't move" I pointed my wand at Zack again. Aaron pulled his wand out, too, and said a spell, which made ropes coil around Zack.

"What're we going to do about him?" I heard Andrea ask Aaron.

"Just keep him away from our meetings. Some place where he wont over hear our conversations."

Instead of going back outside I went to my sleeping bag and slipped inside it. I tried to fall asleep but it didn't work so I just lay there. Eventually, everyone else went to sleep and there was no noise in the cave. I turned onto my back so that I could stare at the ceiling and think. It was then that I noticed the light.

"Still awake?"Aaron asked me. I rolled my eyes but didn't answer him. "And still mad at me?" He sighed and closed the book he was reading --

Wait, he was reading a book!

I looked at what he was reading. I couldn't make out the name of the book because it was so dark and I was too far away. I sat up and stared at him in disbelief.

"What are you reading?" I asked. Instead of exclaiming about how I was answering him, he answered my question.

"Those books that you brought" he looked down at the cover. "Harry Potter? It's actually pretty interesting."

"Which one?" I asked softly. I was looking down at the book.

"Third, I think"

"Sirius Black" I whispered while laying back down on the sleeping bag.

"What?" He asked, lying back too. We both lay there, staring at the ceiling.

"Sirius Black" I said louder. "The whole third book is basically based on him"

"Who is he?"

"Harry's godfather. He's my favorite character"

Aaron went silent, which made me look over at him. He was reading, flipping page after page furiously.

"Why?" He finally asked.

"Cause'..." I couldn't say it. I couldn't say that I thought Sirius Black was the hottest fictional book character I had ever heard of. Couldn't say it. So instead I said;

"It's a secret" I flashed Aaron a mischievous smile and turned onto my side so that my back was facing him. I heard him chuckle and I couldn't help but smile to myself.


	11. Death

Chapter Eleven:

"We're still friends, right?" Aaron asked me. Those were the last four words that I heard from him. They played over and over in my head as I sat in the cave, waiting. I had wanted to say that we never were friends but all I could do was nod my head.

Why did he have to be so nice all of a sudden?

It was bothering me so much. I was planning on running away while they were out but I just couldn't do it anymore. There were so many reasons why. One, where was I going to go? I couldn't go back home; it was too dangerous. I couldn't go to a friend's house either. I'd be putting them in danger! The second problem was that I had no chance at survival. I was only 15 years old, I didn't know much about magic and the whole government was after me! There was no way I'd be able to live. The third and most important reason was everything that all these people had done for me. They risked their lives to save someone they didn't know at all. They had been hospitable and nice; although hospitality can't go that far when you're living in a cave. Plus, things had never been as interesting as when I was with them.

Somehow, they _were_ my friends.

The million dollar question; do I stay or run?

Guess we'll have to answer that later.

There was a large flash outside. It was too large and bright to be lightening. Person after person filed into the cave. They all seemed very tired and most of them were dealing with cuts and wounds on their bodies. It looked like they had just been in a battle.

"What happened?" I tried to ask Aaron, but he ignored me. He was carrying a large object in his arms.

Hold on, objects don't have legs.

"Andrea!" I shouted, waiting for her to turn her head and look at me. She was knocked out; that's all. Aaron put his ear to her chest. He stayed in that position for the longest time. Then, he finally picked up his head. He sat on the floor, looking down at his hands, frozen.

"There's no beat" he said, his voice shaking. The air caught in my throat. I couldn't breathe. Andrea and I had never been that close but she didn't deserve to die. No one deserved to die.

I crouched down next to Aaron and put my hand on his shoulder. Everyone else was quiet. Suddenly, Aaron jumped up.

"Where is that bastard?" He growled.

"Who?" I asked. HIS expression scared me.

"Let him live! Fed him! He deserves to die!" Aaron shouted. He walked briskly to the end of the cave. I was about to follow him but someone pulled me back.

"He's angry right now" Avior said to me.  
"And it's out job to calm him down" I answered. Avior looked surprised and impressed. He let go of my shoulder and I ran after Aaron. The opening was still open so I ran through.  
Aaron was standing in front of a scare-looking Zack. Zack was still tied up and he was sitting on the floor. Aaron grabbed the front of Zack's shirt and brought him to eye level.

"You asshole! You told them everything, didn't you?"

"I-I'm sorry. I was under the Imperius Curse!"

"Why didn't you fight it then? Huh? Why'd you tell them every friggen' thing?" He shook Zack with every word. I walked over to them and tried to make Aaron let go.

"It wasn't his fault" I said.

"Then whose was it?" Aaron asked me. He didn't take his eyes off of Zack.

"Nobody's! Aaron, just let go of him. You're not a killer"

Aaron finally let go. "She's dead 'cause of you. Do you know that? Andrea's dead" he spat. Then he turned and walked away.

"Please tell me that's not true" I turned back to Zack. "Please?" He looked up at me.

"It is" I confirmed.

I had never felt more afraid than now.


	12. A Very Old House

"When Aaron's angry, he tends to hurt people accidentally. I didn't want you to get hurt from one of his anger tantrums" Avior explained to me.

"He just needs someone to talk to" I tried to reason.

"He doesn't open up to anyone. He didn't even open up to…"

"Andrea?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah"

"There must be some way to reach him, though"

"Good luck with that" Avior said before walking away. I watched Aaron put away to sleeping bags. We had decided that it wasn't safe to stay in one location. So, we were going to stay in some old wizard's house. He didn't live there anymore, since the Muggle government had kidnapped him and taken him away.

"Do you have all your stuff packed?" Aaron asked me.

"Yeah, I do"

"Okay. I'm hoping you know how to fly"

I gave Aaron a worried look. "Why do you hope?"

"You're joking, righ – you know what, never mind. You'll just fly with me"

I nodded my head. "Let's go, people" Aaron clapped his hands. Everyone lined up in their positions. Aaron waved his wand and more than a dozen broom sticks flew into the cave. Aaron caught one of them and climbed on. I climbed on behind him. I curled my arms around his waist.

"This is awkward" I thought.

"Hold on tight"

Next thing I knew, we were soaring through the night. The cold air stung my face, as we flashed past city after city of bright lights.

"Are you okay?" Aaron shouted back to me.

"Never better" I laughed at how 'Harry Potter' this whole thing actually was.

We landed smoothly in front of a row of small houses. There had been a large thunderstorm on our way to the new headquarters.

"I think we're lost" Aaron said calmly as he looked up and down the street we were on.

"How can you say that so calmly?" I asked, hugging my jacket closer around my body.

"Because it's not a big deal"

I gave Aaron an exasperated look, but he just ignored me.

"If I can just find out what street we're on… Lumos" he walked to the end of the block and looked up at the street sign.

"We are on… Grim… Grimauld Place" he announced.

"No freaking' way" I walked along the street until I found the space between Number Eleven and Number Thirteen. Aaron  
followed me down and when he reached me, I said:

"There's no Number Twelve!"

"Uh, yeah, you're right. What does it matter, though?"

"You're a slow reader, aren't you?"

I closed my eyes and thought only of Number 12, Grimauld Place and Sirius Black.

"What're you – "

"Shh"

"Number 12, Grimauld Place. Number 12, Grimauld Place. Number 12, Grimauld Place" I repeated over and over in my head.

I was scared to open my eyes. What id the house didn't appear? What if the street we were on wasn't the Grimauld Place in the books? What if Aaron couldn't read!

Okay, I was over-reacting.

Aaron nudged me. "Hey, open your eyes"

I opened my eyes and looked at Aaron.

"Look" he said, pointing in front of s. I looked back at the space between the two houses, but it was gone. In its place was an average sized house. I walked towards the front door. Aaron followed me, not saying anything.

I touched the door knob; it felt cool against my skin. That was pretty much the only touchable part of the door, since there  
were vines and flowers all over it. No one had lived here for many years; that was my guess.

"What is this place?" Aaron asked me, confused at the fact that I recognized it and he didn't.

"Number 12, Grimauld Place" I answered. Aaron rolled his eyes.

"I know that already"

I smiled.

"Who is it?" I jumped back from the door, astonished. There was a single eye watching us from a small circle in the door.

"Well?" The eye asked again.

"Whose side are you on?" Aaron asked, pulling out his wand. Since the eye had a limited sight of the door, it didn't see the  
wand in Aaron's hands.

"Whatever do you mean?" The eye asked. The voice coming from the other side of the door sounded like an old woman's.

"Whose side are you on? Are you on the governments or the wizards?" I whispered, trying to help Aaron. He smacked me on my arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't give them the choices, let them answer on their own" he whispered to me. "It's like you know nothing"

"_I _know nothing? _I know nothing_?" I whispered loudly. "You're the one who doesn't know anything you brain-less little – "

"Are you two done fighting?" The voice asked sternly. I could tell our bickering was bothering this mysterious person. Aaron and I continued staring at each other, though. Our eyes didn't waver. "If you are, would you like to come in? I am on the wizard's side, even though I suppose I'm too old to fight, right?" The woman chuckled.  
Her last comment made both me and Aaron look at the woman standing in the doorway. She was wearing a dress from the 1980's, just like any old woman should be. Her eyes showed kindness, but the toughness in her face showed that she had dealt with many problems of her own. Or maybe her problems were the same as every wizard now living on Earth.

I walked into her house, cautiously. I could hear a tea kettle doing its job in the kitchen. The house looked very homey, with a large burning fire in the fire-place and loads of soft, warm blankets lying on comfy looking chairs and couches.

"Here, give me your coats" she took my jacket and Aaron's too. Aaron was too quick for her, though. He took both my jacket and his.

"Where do I put them?" He asked sincerely. I couldn't help but smile. Aaron was being such a little gentleman.

I snickered to myself, but inside I was beaming from ear to ear.

"I'm not sure how you got here… I'm not sure where you came from either, but it looks like you two have had quite a journey" the woman said, smiling.

"Yes, we did" I answered. "It was very tiring and _he _didn't make anything easier"

"So you're going to blame this all on me?"

"I'm not blaming you for anything!" I said, defending myself.

"Yeah… right! You always blame me!"

"Shut up, will you?"

"You know what – "

"I can also see that you two like fighting a lot" the woman said slyly.

"Sorry" I said quietly. Then I took a sip from my hot chocolate.

"Yeah, me too" Aaron said. Then he whispered to me: "Even though you always start it"

"Shut up" I whispered back, smiling.

Aaron shrugged and walked into the next room. I smiled even wider and looked in the swirling brown mass of hot chocolate.

"You don't have to be sorry" the woman said to me, quietly so Aaron wouldn't hear. "I understand what it feels like when you have feelings for someone and you don't know how to express it"

"Whaa – "

She patted my hand and gave me a knowing smile.

Even though she didn't know what was really going on.

Wait, _was_ there something going on? No, there wasn't!

… Was there?

I followed the woman to the next room, where Aaron was sitting and watching the television.

"Now," she said, sitting down carefully in an armchair "how did you guys know about Number 12, Grimauld Place?" her voice no longer sounded friendly.

Both Aaron and I froze. Aaron looked at me and I looked back questioningly. What was I supposed to tell her? The truth or a lie?

"Harry Potter books" I finally muttered.

"Excuse me?" The woman asked, confused. I sighed really loudly, pulled my minimized suitcase out of my pocket and put it  
down on the floor.

"Engorgio" Aaron said before I could even pull my wand out. I turned and gave him a long stare. He wasn't smiling but there was a twinkle in his eyes that said he thought he was faster than me.

I'd get him back later. I bent down and opened the suitcase. I pulled out the first Harry Potter book and handed it to the  
woman.

I couldn't just keep on calling her 'the woman'. What was her name again? Before she could take the book from me, I pulled it out of her reach. "What's your name?" I asked randomly.

She looked a little scared to tell us her name but I guess she figured we were okay, since she said her name was Lily.

Lily took the book and looked at the cover. I wasn't sure what she was staring at. Finally, she said something;

"Oh posh, no matter how hard I try I wont be able to read a thing without my glasses. She fumbled with something in her apron pocket, before pulling out a glasses case. She opened it and pulled out an old, but not totally out of date pair of reading glasses. With them helping she was able to read the front cover, open the book and begin reading the first few pages.

"Is this a history book?" She asked after reading for about twenty minutes. I shook my head;

"It was a fantasy book. I mean, it _is_ a fantasy book, but only to the people who think Harry Potter wasn't real" I answered.

She looked down at the book again. There was a new emotion in her eyes, but I couldn't tell what it was. It was most likely a sad emotion because I saw a tear slide slowly down her cheek. I guess Harry Potter was much more special to the Wizarding world than I thought.

--

**_Sorry for not updating for a long time. I guess I let my depression effect my writing a little too much. But I'm back now. I know I owe whoever my fans may be an explanation, but it's kinda private. Let's just say I've been feeling a little out of it. I'm okay now. And I'm back and ready to write like crazy( :_**

**_THANK YOU. to whomever reads my stories.  
POO YOU. to whoever does not._**

**_love ya alls a lot3_**


	13. That Emotional Connection

The sun was shining brightly through my window. I could hear movement next to me, but I was too lazy to actually look. I just stared up at the ceiling, watching the sunlight making art. I smiled. Everything felt so normal for once. It didn't feel like anything had changed, but I knew better than to believe this would last longer than 10 minutes, once Aaron found out I was awake.

"Good morning" a soft voice said. I finally turned my head to look. Lily was putting down my food. "You slept past breakfast. The boy wanted to wake you up but I wouldn't allow it. You looked so tired last night" she smiled at me.

"Thank you, for everything" I said while sitting up. "It must be hard having to deal with us all of a sudden"

"It's okay… it feels like it used to when my children were here" she handed me the plate of food, but she didn't look me in the eye.

"You had children?" I asked.

"Yes… they were the sweetest things…"

Were? "What happened to them?" I asked softly.

"They went to fight for our side… against the muggle government… it cost them their lives"

"I'm so sorry" I said, quietly. I hadn't been expecting anything as tragic as that.

"It's quite okay. It's not your fault, after all. They were very brave; both of them. They both looked so much like their grandfather…"

I watched Lily pick up the tray and walk out of the room. It must've been so hard for her.

--

"I have to run a few errands. You guys don't mind staying here alone, do you?"

Aaron and I looked up from the map. We were just in the middle of an argument. He said we should wait till dusk to fly out, so that no one would see us. I thought it would be better to start in the morning. That way we could get home before t got dark, and dangerous.

"Sure, we don't mind" Aaron answered. I smiled and nodded my head. Once Lily had locked the front door, I turned on Aaron.

"We can always just use a Disillusionment Charm!"I argued.

"But if we go at night, no one will see us and we won't have to waste our magical powers!"

"We'd still have to use a Disillusionment Charm if we left at night"

"Exactly!"

"I'm not leaving at night" I said, stubbornly. I got up and went into the kitchen. I needed something to chew on. Fighting with Aaron took a lot of strength out of me.

"Then you can find your own way back home. I'm going to leave at night"

I saw a nice, red apple sitting at the top of a lump of fruit. "You wouldn't just leave me here" I said.

"How would you know?"

"If you did, you'd feel guilty. You know it!"

"I would not" but he didn't look me in the eye.

"You so would" I smirked at his discomfort.

"Just shut up"

"Make me"

He rolled his eyes but he didn't say anything more. He began reading the map of England again. We had spent all morning trying to figure out how we could've possibly flown over the ocean, from the USA to England. It just didn't make any sense.

I walked around the house, looking at the stuff in the glass cabinets. There were really beautiful things in this house. I could feel Aaron's eyes on me suddenly. I turned around.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing" he said. He looked back down at the map. I shook my head and continued watching him. Finally, he looked up. "What?" He asked me.

"Nothing" I imitated him.

"You're annoying"

"Look who's talking" I walked to the table again. It was really messy, and ¾ of that mess was not ours. I began cleaning up; making things neat and tidy.

Something caught my eye. It was a piece of mail; a bill to be exact. But, that's not what caught my eye. What caught my eye was the mailing address. I picked it up and looked at more closely.

It said;

Mrs. Lily Potter  
Number 12, Grimauld Place  
London, England

"Mrs. Lily Potter?" I whispered out loud.

"What?" Aaron asked me. He wasn't paying attention to me, though. He was still playing with the compass and the map.

"She's Harry's daughter"

"Harry who?" Still wasn't paying attention to me. I snatched map from under his nose. "Hey!" He exclaimed.

"Harry _Potter's_ daughter!" I exclaimed happily.

It took Aaron a full ten minutes until her came over the shock. "You're joking! How do you know?" It didn't seem like he cared much for the map anymore.

"Look at this letter" I threw it to him. He caught it and turned it around to see the back. He read some of the words and then his eyes widened in surprise. "Holy crap" he whispered.

"Exactly!" I was overly excited. I couldn't understand why, but I couldn't control my emotions either. This was just too good to be true.

But why _was_ it too good to be true?

"I'm back" Lily called as she shut the front door closed. Aaron had gone back to his map reading, but all I could do for the past hour and a half was stare at the name on the envelope and think about how weird this whole thing was.

When I heard Lily come into the house, though, I couldn't hold myself back. I stood up and went to where she was; hanging up her wet coat.

"It just started raining out of nowhere. That's the London weather for you" she chuckled. When she turned around and saw the piece of mail in my hand, her smile dropped.

"You left this on the dining table" she met my eyes, looking apologetic.

"I didn't want you guys to know" she whispered sadly.

"Why not?"

"Because I still didn't know who you were. I didn't know if I could trust you. I've been hiding from the Muggle government and they dont't know about this place. I thought I was the last one who knew about this house; but I was wrong" she said.

"I only knew about it from the books"

"And that still shouldn't have given you the power to find it, but there's a stronger connection between you and this house. I just can't understand it. You're not anywhere in my family tree or the Blacks'"

My heart skipped a beat at the name.

"You couldn't have had any connection to the Blacks. The last of that family died decades ago"

"I know"

She looked confused.

"From the books" I reminded her. "Sirius Black was the last one, wasn't he?" I asked. I had always felt that there was some special connection between me and Sirius Black. I just couldn't understand it either.

"Yes, he was. He was my – "

"Great god-father" I answered for her. She nodded.

"What do you know of the Black family?"

"Not anything more than the books tell me"

I had a feeling Lily could see the emotional connection linking me to Sirius Black. Neither of us understood it, but we could both feel it there; vibrating with every mention of his name.

"Would you like to know more?" I smiled and nodded my head.

--

**I don't know why I added Sirius Black in there randomly.**

**It just felt like the right thing to do. Heheheh.**

_**BREAKING DAWN WAS AWESOME.**_** If you haven't read it, read it now !**


	14. Doubts

"Here's a picture of Sirius and his brother, -"

"Regulus?"

"I keep forgetting how much you know", Lily smiled down at me.

"You know, I kind of look like Sirius, don't you think?", Aaron asked.

"No", I laughed. "Sirius is amazingly good looking and you're -"

"I'm what?"

I couldn't say that he wasn't good looking, but he was definitely no Sirius. But I also couldn't tell him that they both sort of looked alike. They both had the same black hair and the same facial structure. I couldn't say that I was somewhat attracted to Aaron, just because he reminded me of my favorite fictional character.

I keep forgetting! Sirius isn't a fictional character!

"You're just… you"

"Meaning?"

"Anyone with an annoying personality like you can't even be tolerated long enough for someone to realize that you're, in any way, good-looking. If you are"

"So are you saying I am or I'm not?"

Lily saved me by answering. "Well, I think you are, dear"

"Thank you, Lily. That means a lot, but I want Anneliese to answer…"

Damn it. I decided to ignore Aaron, and turned to Lily instead. "Thank you for showing me these pictures, and the original black family tree, but Aaron and I really need to know about your family tree"

"What about it?", Lily asked as she got up to put the pictures back.

"Your family… they had many hand-me downs, right?" I asked.

"Yes, of course… just like any other family"

"Was there a certain cloak in those hand-me downs… one that could hide the wearer better than any disillusionment charm?"

"There may have been…" Lily still had her back to us.

"We need to know who has the invisibility cloak… or who had it last" Aaron said quickly. He seemed angry, for some reason.

Lily turned to look at us. She didn't look scared or angry or upset. Just sort of sad, and a little proud. "I don't know where it is or who has it… my son had it last… he had it in battle. Then he died… they sent me his things, but the cloak wasn't there. When I asked about it, they said they had no idea what I was talking about. They told me that if they saw any hint of it, they would notify me right away. That's when I knew it was gone forever… no one in their right mind would give away something as useful or as treasured as that…"

"Oh, Lily…" I felt so bad. Losing her children and then losing something that important to her family name.

"But why would your children have it? Shouldn't it be the eldest child or the first boy, both of which you're not"

"Both my brothers died when my oldest son was 5, and the others were not yet born… the cloak went to my husband next, but then he died, too. I didn't want the cloak; I had no use for it. So I gave it to my eldest son, and he was the last keeper"

"So it could be anywhere right now?" I asked gently. Lily seemed to be on the verge of tears, but she was holding it in well. She was being brave.

"It could be anywhere…" Lily headed for the door. "I'm going to bed now. I suggest you two do the same"

"Of course" Aaron said.

"Good night" I called, but Lily was already gone.

I sat there for a few minutes, then I looked at Aaron. He seemed lost in thought. "Well, what are we going to do now?" I finally asked.

"I'm not sure…"

"Yeah, me neither"

"No, I'm not sure… if I believe her" Aaron looked up at me.

"What do you mean?"

"I think she's lying"

"But why would she lie?"

"'No one in their right mind would give away something as useful or as treasured as that'…"

"Oh, come on" I snorted and stood up. "I think you've been spending so much time doubting people throughout your life that you've now started doubting the innocent"

"How can we know she's not lying? Just because she's Harry's son, doesn't change who she is to us"

But -"

"She's still just a stranger to us, Ann!"

"What did you call me?" I asked softly.

"I called you… Ann… is there a problem?"

"No one's ever given me a nickname" I answered. I felt a sentimental stab in my heart as I realized that Curry used to have a nickname for me. It seemed so stupid, though. What he called me had no meaning.

"Do you not like nicknames?"

"No, they're okay…"

"Okay then… maybe we should just get some sleep. My brain's fried; that's probably why I'm 'doubting the innocent' now" Aaron threw a pillow at me.

I caught it before it could hit my face. "I guess you're right… and you really are doubting the innocent. I mean, how much do you know about me? I'm practically a stranger, too, but you trust me"

"I never said I did"

"Oh, ha ha. I forgot how funny you are; thanks for reminding me"

I fell asleep instantly, that night. But halfway through, I woke up. I'm not sure what woke my up from slumber, but I knew it wasn't just my imagination. I got up, grabbed my wand (just in case) and went over to Aaron's bedroom. He wasn't in bed.

"Where is he?" I whispered to myself.

"Downstairs" someone whispered back. I jumped five fight into the air, then turned around quickly and thrust my wand out so the light would cover the whole hall.

"Who's there?" I whispered, again.

"Calm your feathers, it's just me, in the painting"I looked up and saw an old man sitting in a wonderfully furnished chair. He had a haughty look upon his face, but a face that looked almost exactly like Sirius'. I'd bet my life that he was a Black.

"Who are you?"

"Orion Black" he spat at me. "No one ever knows my name"

"You're Sirius' father!"

"And everyone seems to know that little brats' name"

"Well, he is famous…"

"Famous? FAMOUS? AND I AM NOT FAMOUS? ME, THE LAST KNOWN REAL MAN OF THE BLACK FAMILY… except, of course, Regulus… but if he was really a man, HE WOULD NOT HAVE GONE AND GOTTEN HIMSELF KILLED! AND THEN THAT DREADFUL SIRIUS BLACK! I WISH HE NEVER HELD OUR NOBLE FAMILY NAME!…"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Next time, I'll acknowledge your fame"

"Thank you, that's all I ask"

Then his head fell forward, and I could hear faint snoring. Could that have really been Orion Black? I had to remember to ask Lily if he had gone crazy before dying…

"Anneliese?"

"Aaron? What are you doing?"

"Me? What are _you_ doing? I just went downstairs for a glass of water and then I heard this shouting… was that _you_?"

"No, it was that damn Orion Black!"

"I heard that" Orion muttered. Aaron looked at the painting, startled.

"Did he just…"

"Yes yes, now can you go back to sleep! Can't we ever have a normal night…" I walked back to my room, muttering to myself.

I heard Aaron mutter to himself, too, "girls…"

"Tell me about it" came another voice. Probably from a painting…


	15. Pride Produces Lies

The next morning, I went downstairs to find Aaron alone in the kitchen.

"Where's Lily?"

"She went out again"

"For someone who's hiding from the government, she sure does go out a lot. Don't you think?" I chuckled.

"Too much, actually" He looked very serious. Oh god, not this again.

"Aaron, I was _kidding_"

"But what if she really _has_ been having meetings with the government, rather than doing errands like she says she is?"

"But she _hasn't_!"

"How do _you_ know?"

"What makes you think she is? She's just an old lady, and a wizard, too! _Harry Potter's_ daughter! Why would she turn against us? Why do you have so many problems with people?"

"Forget it; you just don't understand"

I glared at Aaron, and tried to think of something to say back to him. But I didn't know what to do. He always let his doubts control his mind. He was afraid to trust anyone or anything, and I guess that wasn't really his fault. He had been through a lot, I'm sure. I mean, it's not like I actually know! He would never tell me anything, so why would I know exactly what was going on in his mind?

But I wasn't going to let him take it out on innocent people.

"Hello dears, had breakfast already?"

"Not really…"

Lily looked from me to Aaron and back again. We both ignored her and each other."Did I miss something?" She asked.

"No" I answered. Believe it or not, I was sulking.

Lily kept on watching us, but she put her grocery bags on the counter and started putting things away.

"Let me help you with that" I said with a sigh. I was doing exactly what Aaron was doing to other people, except with my anger, not my doubts.

"Thank you" Lily smiled at me.

"How far away is the supermarket?" Aaron asked suddenly. He turned an accusatory glare on Lily. This couldn't be good…

"Aaron -"

"Shut up" he spat at me. "How long does it take?"

Lily looked startled. I couldn't blame her; I was just as shocked at her. This wasn't the first time he had told me to shut up, but this was the first time he had ever said it with any hint of hatred.

"It takes around 15 minutes to drive there and back"

"And it takes you an hour and a half to buy…" Aaron reached over to the bags. "Milk, eggs, bread…"

"Aaron, this is stupid"

"No, it takes me 45 minutes to buy the groceries… and 45 minutes to visit my nieces and nephews…"

"Your nieces and nephews are still alive?"

"Oh please, that's the biggest…"

"Yes, in fact, they are. I go visit them every few days; they don't live too far away. I've already told them about you two. They can't wait to meet you"

"Anneliese, you're not believing this crap, are you?"

"Well, it's not that…"

"It's totally fake"

"It is not fake" Lily said in a low voice. "It's the tru-"

"My ass, it's the truth"

"Aaron, can you…"

"Can I what? She's been lying to us this whole time!"

"Why would she lie to us! You're letting your imagination run away"

"This is not something I imagined. She has the cloak!"

Everything was silent. I looked at Aaron in shock, and so did Lily. Then she looked back at me.

"That's absurd…"

"No, it's not. Her brothers died, yeah, but she never got the cloak. She wasn't next in line, her -"

"Nephews were"

"Yes!" Aaron looked at me with excitement. "Finally, you believe me"

"You even said it… you said you went to visit your nieces and nephews… you lied"

"Listen to me, Aaron… Anneliese, I had to"

I grabbed my wand from my back pocket and pointed it at Lily. "Aaron, pack our stuff"

"What?" he looked at me like I was crazy.

"You really want to stay here? She probably turned us in!"

"I know that, but why am I the one packing the stuff? I should be the one pointing the wand; I'm a better dueler!"

I gave him an exasperated look. "Really? You're saying this _now_?"

"Well…"

"Oh, fine!" I stuck my wand back into my pocket as Aaron pulled out his. Then I ran around the house, grabbing our things from every room. Finally, I had everything packed into our suitcases, which were now miniature sized. I slipped back into the kitchen and saw that nothing had changed in the last 20 minutes.

"You have to listen to me…" Lily said, as Aaron backed away, still pointing his wand at her. "I'm not even fighting back. I just want you to listen to me for a few minutes"

Aaron looked at me; I'm not sure if it was for reassurance or instruction.

"You've got two"

"I didn't turn you two in. I would never do that. You know who I am and whose family I come from; why would I turn against my own self?"

I didn't know how to answer her, so I kept silent. Aaron just shrugged.

"But I did lie… you were right about that. I didn't think you would find out."

"I took the liberty of checking your family tree. I knew you had nieces and nephews and it only made sense that you wouldn't be the next in line for the inheritance for quite a while" Aaron said.

I was impressed. Aaron hadn't been doubting innocent people. He had even taken the time to research.

"Where is the cloak then?" I asked.

"Remember, it's your life that's on the line here" Aaron added. I glanced at him in shock; we weren't going to kill her, were we?

"It's locked up. Safe."

"Where?"

"The only place it could be safe…"

"Gringotts?" Aaron asked.

"There's still a Gringotts?"

"Yeah, but it's not in the same location as it used to be. And it's now more of a headquarters for the official Wizarding rebellion"

"There's an _official Wizarding rebellion_?"

"Yes"

"Are we part of that?"

"No, we're too young"

"So we're the un-official -"

"Who really cares!" Aaron exclaimed. "Where is the key to the vault?"

"I don't have it"

Aaron hesitated before answering. "I'm not sure if I can believe that either, but even if you did have it, you wouldn't give it up"

"No, I wouldn't"

I could see the proud look in Lily's eyes re-appear. "Then I guess we're done here"

I opened the front door and ran out. I heard Aaron running behind me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a side road. I wasn't sure what we were running to or what we were following or whether or not we were running to something or following something.

"Where are we going?" I gasped.

"I have no idea"

"That helps"

Aaron laughed and so did I, despite the fact that we were both running nowhere, to nothing, together.


	16. Love Is a Battlefield

"You do realize we really have nowhere to go, right?" I asked as we walked down yet another dark street. There was no life to be seen anywhere. I wasn't sure if that was a sign or if people just didn't come outside in this neighborhood.

"Yes, I am aware"

"So where are we going to go?"

"I'm not sure. Look, there's a park right there. I bet we can find somewhere safe to sit and see if we can figure out our next destination"

Aaron and I walked towards the park, and just like he said, we did find a bench to sit on.

"Our choices are…" he began.

"Nowhere!" I said in mock enthusiasm, then I slumped backwards. Why couldn't I just go home now? I had enough of this magic stuff. I don't think even Harry Potter had it this bad.

Aaron glared at me, then continued. "We need the cloak, so our choices are…"

"We can follow Lily around to see where her nieces and nephews live. Then we can ask them for the key to the vault in Gringotts"

"Even though I hate admitting this, you're right… that could actually work. We just need a place to stay, though, while we watch Lily"

"It might be harder than you think, though. The house is protected by a lot of powerful enchantments. I doubt we'll even be able to see Lily leave her doorstep" I commented.

"That's true…" Aaron sighed and slumped back against the bench, too. "This sucks"

"Of course it sucks"

"What do we do?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm the inexperienced muggle- with-wand, who doesn't know what she's doing at all"

There was silence.

"You know a lot of things about the wizard past - things I don't even know, and that's really saying something"

"Oh please, every person in the country could tell you the same things I told you"

"But they can't all use that information to find two hallows"

"We haven't actually found them yet"

"Yeah…"

"But thanks"

"Thanks for what?"

"For saying that" I knew that he was watching my face, but I couldn't get myself to look back at him.

"No problem"

I couldn't think of anything else to say. Through the dense trees, I could see patches of sky with twinkling stars all over. The park smelled good; like mowed grass and spring air. It was a beautiful and intoxicating smell, and I couldn't get enough of it.

Eventually I realized that Aaron put his hand over mine on the bench. I felt myself blush and instantly, I was happy that it was dark and he couldn't' see my face properly.

"You know, it's really beautiful here"

Wow, just what I was thinking! "I know" I still couldn't look at him.

Aaron carefully moved my face until I was looking straight at him. He didn't say anything and I was sure if I said anything, I would break the enchantment that was holding our eyes level. He slowly began to lean down towards me; hesitating very slightly. But there was determination in his eyes, and I wasn't sure what he was determined to do. Kiss me or make me die of anticipation?

Very slowly, our lips began to touch. I couldn't move my whole body, and we were in very weird positions. We were both at the opposite ends of the bench, with a wide gap between our bodies.

But it felt so good.

"NOOOOO!"

"AARON!" I screamed, as I flew through the air and landed hard on the ground. I felt my arm break under me and there was liquid slowly trickling down my forehead, from when the bench got blasted apart. I wasn't sure where Aaron was or what he was doing or if he was okay! I started to cry.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light and I realized that a fight was going on. Aaron was fighting these people and I knew that I had to fight, too. I stopped crying and pushed myself up off the ground with my good arm. When I was finally standing on two feet, I realized that I had been blasted into a perfect hiding spot. No one could see me if I stayed here, and no one would know where the spells were coming from if I were to…

"Stupefy" I whispered and watched the figure crumple to the ground. "Stupefy, stupefy, stupefy"

It was actually quite funny to watch. Every time someone came running at Aaron I would stun them. At first, Aaron was confused. Then he realized that I was doing it and he started roping up every person that I stupefied. There was no one left standing except Aaron and me. I started walking towards him, still hidden in my special spot.

"Anneliese? Where are you?"

I pulled in a breath to shout back, "Right here! I'm okay!" but something was covering my mouth.

No.

No!

NO!

I wasn't going to be taken away from Aaron! This mission was my destiny; he was my destiny, too. We were meant to meet. I always knew that, but I just couldn't admit it to myself. I couldn't admit that I loved him, even though we only knew each other for a short time. I couldn't admit that he was the most important person in my life.

Curry who?!

I tried desperately to pull myself free. I kicked, I screamed, I shoved, I pushed, I even bit the person's hand! But nothing worked. I was only a 15 year old girl, and I was dealing with a grown man, who obviously worked out everyday. The stranger began dragging me away from a hurt and scared Aaron.

I couldn't be sure, but I think he looked like someone who had been abandoned. I had abandoned him? No, this wasn't my choice! I started crying again. I wanted him, at any cost.

I was turned around so I couldn't see Aaron anymore. We began making our way across the park, and I was afraid that I would be tortured for information. Being jailed wouldn't be so terrible. Death wouldn't be terrible either, as long as I had a chance to tell Aaron how I really felt. And my parents. And even though I knew that I didn't really love curry like I loved Aaron, I did care. I needed to talk to him one last time. Tell him that he was my best friend and that living without him would be unbelievably painful.

Darkness was everywhere.

Then there was a flash of light and I felt myself falling down. I hit the ground hard on my broken arm and cried out.

I'm dead. I'm dead. I've died. I am dead.

"Anneliese!"

Aaron! Oh my god.

"Are you okay? Please talk to me" his voice cracked as he tried to lift me up. He managed to get me into a sitting position and I leaned against his body for support.

"Broken arm" I rasped.

"Which one?" He asked.

"Left"

He lifted my arm up and I screamed. I couldn't help it; it just hurt so bad. He pulled out his wand and balanced my arm in the air. He whispered a spell and suddenly my arm didn't hurt so bad. Then another one brought a cast out for me. Finished, he stuck his wand back into his pocket. Then he hugged me.

I wanted so bad to tell him my epiphany, but I couldn't do it. Not only because I was too beat to say anything, but because I was scared of his reaction. Now that I knew I wasn't going to die just yet, I realized telling him this woujld just cause trouble.

I felt Aaron slide away from under me. He walked back to the attack site, did some spell, then came back.

I couldn't think straight. Everything was fuzzy… dark… loud… soft… bright… peaceful. The last thing I felt, as I drifted into a silent state of sleep, was a warm body underneath me.

And a 6-pack.

Wow…


End file.
